Hong Kong's Most Delicious Critic

Posts tagged “Steak”

I don’t know about you, but sometimes the inspiration to commit paws to typewriter is difficult to catch – but having looted the wine corner, I’m now armed with a large glass of a rather wonderful Argiano Brunello, and if that doesn’t inspire me – then shoot me now (well when I’ve finished drinking it…)

Right – on to Lot 10.

Review:

Thanks to a couple of comments posted to Caustic Candy, and a scour of Chowhound I decided to give this much ignored (by me, deliberately) little bolt hole a try.

I don’t know why it’s never made me want to give it a go – I’ve seen it for years, and walked by it hundreds of times, but I suppose I’ve been rather tired of “French” restaurants in HK. I know it’s not fashionable, but I just don’t (or didn’t in the case of Plats) think places like La Bouteille, Plats or Le Blanc were really any good (too much dodgy foie gras and low quali steaks), so when I saw Lot 10 open during that gold rush of private kitchen styley establishments I just wasn’t interested (Lot 10 has apparently changed hands since those early 2005 days but who’d have known?)

*Of course the shining example of private kitchen’s for me used to be Frank Ching’s Tribute when it was on Cochrane Street, but that may have been something to do with the wonderful evenings I spent there with some friends of his, where we used to ransack his kitchen after-hours and he’d let us taste all his latest creations. The sooner he’s up and running again the better – Go Frank!

And so to supper:

Food: French inspired, locally sourced fish where possible, local produce used where possible – yes, yes, yes. This is what we want Hong Kong.

Companion had French onion soup to start – very good, tasty stock base.

For mains, I had the crispy pork shoulder on a bed of lentils. For those of you who like bbq pork neck at Thai restaurants, this pork shoulder had a similar texture – incredibly tender with slightly crispy edges. And Oh My Lord the Lentils! If you think lentils are for hippies, too Robert Carrier 70′s or only fit for dal, then you are very wrong – Lot 10′s lentils were a revelation. They were so subtly seasoned and spiced, they were wonderful (how geeky is that?!).

My wonderful (and in no way erstwhile) dining companion had a steak with a macaroni gratin - steak was good quality: a well cooked slab of flesh. Macaroni gratin added a very light accompaniment, but was a bit too oot of the ordinary and not a winning combo for either of us – but hey, worth a try.

We did though have lettuce with peas and bacon (grrr, yum, yum) and duck fat roasted potatoes (almost…almost…as good as my own), so overall the food was very well received.

Drinks: Reasonable and well thought out wine list. We had a very decent Torbreck for around $400.

Ambience: A bolt hole. There are only 3-4 tables downstairs (and it’s a push past the kitchen to sidle into the washrooms). A couple of tables outside on Shing Hing Terrace, and another larger room good for private parties hidden upstairs. Clean lines, white linen, white walls (slightly small tables and chairs, but then it’s a slightly small restaurant).

Service: Quiet and competent service.

Price: We paid around $1200 for a meal for 2. Mains were around $250 on average. Food was quality, and wine a good price, so I think good value for the experience. Will return.

I had home cured gravlax and a local caught snapper, grilled which were both very good, and my companion had a good sized, tasty Caesar salad and a very decent steak. We sat outside on the street terrace and were thoroughly entertained by the guys playing shuttlecock (Jianzi in Mando, not sure what the Canto is), one of whom must have been about 80 and was the very definition of spry.

A perfect break from the office in the middle of the day, and such good value for money (we even succumbed to sharing a chocolate pot for desert for $30 extra – delish). Will become a regular haunt.

Right, so The Stoep used to be a another stalwart of the Lantau dining scene, a real gem, but over the last few years it’s gone really down hill. They never have any specials, and they haven’t changed the menu in the 9 years I’ve been in Hong Kong. How lazy is that?

Perhaps because of this, the service has also become incredibly slack. It may be different at weekends when the junks come, but a restaurant on Lantau really survives on the locals turning up during the slow weeknights, and the service is pretty rubbish.

Blessed by a lovely beach-front location and an established reputation, you would think that the latest management team would be all over this opportunity, but unfortunately not.

Food: South African BBQ. Steaks nowhere near as good as they used to be, chips, salad, kebabs, chicken – you get the picture. They do make a lovely seed bread though…

Drinks: Decent wine list.

Ambience: Can be rammed with junk trippers and families at the weekend, so very informal, beachwear and flips styley. During the week it’s usually dead, and would suggest asking them to put a table on the beach with candles and mozzie coils which creates a really lovely desert island vibe.

Service: Can be slow and fraught at weekends. Weeknights be prepared for your hosts to sit at a table and just call them over when you need something, best summed up as disinterested.

Price: Soho prices and the quality of the ingredients really doesn’t deserve the pricing.

Location: Lower Cheung Sha on the beach, 10 mins from Mui Wo by Taxi and 15 from Tung Chung, all the taxi drivers know it by name. Make sure your junk has a tender if you don’t want to swim as there is no jetty. Tel: 2980 2699

Open: Tues through Sunday, lunch all the way through dinner.

The Stoep is well past its sell-by date and is in desperate need of an attitude and menu overhaul. Place could be really good again, but is frankly disappointing.

Bless the Gallery. Stalwart of Lantau, hasn’t changed a bit since I first ravenously chowed down on a burger back in ’97 after hiking over Sunset Peak.

Food: BBQ, Pizza and Tapas. Really high quali ingredients, meat and fish sourced from same suppliers as top hotels in HK like the Mando. Steaks and burgers are up there with the best of them, great tuna, big fat mussels and the fresh made pizzas are real goooood. This restaurant is the only one in HK I order chips – fresh oven baked in olive oil. The owner, Dave, will even sacrifice a lamb and cook it for your party if you ask him in advance.

Ambience: Super chill, beachy bar-bee, tin-roofed terrace with patio furniture, and inside bar if you need some aircon. Can slob in your board shorts and flips.

Service: Sometimes patience is required if there are 3-4 tables ordering together. With a kitchen the size of a postage stamp and only two people working in the whole place, service can be haphazard, but it’s always friendly and frankly what do expect in a little village in the back of beyond? Food more than makes up for any wait.

Pricing: Drinks very reasonable. Food is Soho prices (HK$125 for a burger with chips and salad or a 12″ pizza), so maybe you think expensive for Lantau, but the quality of the food is streets ahead of anything similar in Soho, so more than happy to pay those prices. We think very good value.